Marionette
by Crystal Flare
Summary: Haunting events from the past marred with psychological issues prompted her to make a rash decision based on chats online with a boy, Nakura - switch towns to start a new life and cure herself. Ikebukuro turns out to be far from ordinary, the people she meets horrifyingly far from ordinary. Also, Nakura... the most horrifying. Will he be her savior or destruction? OCxIZAYAxSHIZUO
1. Chapter 0 - Prologue

Hello all~!

This is my first Durarara fanfiction and it's based on the anime and what little information I get from websites/translation of the light novel (though I'm still deciding whether I will have plots taken from there or continue with fresh ideas). I love the anime, most of the chars are so messed up, but still it captures your attention. Epic. Amazing! Anyway, this will be an OC story, no pairings at the beginning although I would powerfully hint towards an **OCxIzaya pairing** x3 who knows if I am going to keep it like that or not *is the type who changes thoughts/ideas quickly*

_1__st__ POV / thoughts will be in italics – usually._

**Mature rating** as a precaution: some of the content will have very graphic scenes (blood, torture, xxx contact of various natures), explicit language and cursing, lots of cursing at one point. Will reinforce the warning when such chapters will be posted for those who might not wish to read such parts.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Durarara chars, settings, bla bla bla, only my own OCs and plots.

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**Marionette**

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**Prologue**

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_Ikebukuro..._

_From afar you may believe it's just one of the many fragment of Tokyo, a normal Japanese city, like any you could find scattered throughout this country's rich lands. It has the same characteristics any modern city of this age would have, the same urban vibe and rhythms flowing in between the concrete and steel monsters, insufflating life into these artificial entities. Flocks of sky scrapers are planted in the center of the town and appear to have sprung from right underneath the earth itself in the same fashion mother nature's trees emerge from the ground beneath our feet, growing higher and higher like their sole purpose in this world is to reach the heavens and reign supreme over humanity. Waves of people and cars are roaming around the spaces created between these massive constructions on a daily basis, struggling to get to their destinations as fast and as soon as possible. The restless inhabitants of Ikebukuro are living their lives after a normal, yet suffocating, routine, which they are unable or, perhaps, unwilling to escape from. _

_However~!_

_There are those who have managed to overcome such impediments, after realizing... life is just too damn short, no matter how you look at it. If it isn't lived to its fullest, then the whole idea of living seems... pointless... a cradle of pain and suffering we humans go through for what purpose in the end? Nothing... With such thoughts in mind some decide to place more effort into shaping their world of tomorrow in forms different compared to today's or yesterday's. Evolution. This is the key, the aim - if you will - of this challenging game called 'life'. Stagnation is the beast plaguing this fun little game humans have been blessed with, a monster that is constantly and shamelessly eating one's soul away, indivertibly turning the user's purpose in life into a meaningless one. You could just as well be dead, wouldn't really change anything, would it? _

_However... _

_For those less fortunate these changes started occurring not because of the person's own free will. No... but... rather because of the involvement of certain individuals, which clutched upon oneself like parasitic creatures that did not want to let go unless they've drained you of all your energy and even more. The worst kind were those who loved gifting people false dreams and positive emotions for the sole purpose of shattering them at the end in a way that tore your entire being down, bringing you to a point far worse than in the beginning... a point where life was becoming a burden too heavy to follow._

_._

**Sirens. **

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The deafening noises of sirens were echoing in an unusually frenetic manner that night, like they were announcing the population about a really bad event that had taken place not long ago. Firefighters, police cars, ambulances strolled away at maximum speed towards the edge of the town, driving like there would be no tomorrow.

_I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I arrived in town... that had been made very clear to me from the very first day. I wasn't prepared for this... and I couldn't avoid it..._

A deep and loud sigh escaped her mouth as she leaned more against the thin steel railing, carefully brushing her right hand over her slightly hurting arm. Her left sleeve was almost torn right at the elbow, specks of blood tainting the fabric from the time she had been badly grazed in that earlier altercation. The terrace she was standing on belonged to an average sized residential complex in Ikebukuro, very close to the Sunshine Sixty area. She was aimlessly scanning the streets bellow her, lost within her thoughts as images of the past began to flash across her eyes, bringing her mood down as they unraveled in a quick and endless pace.

_All I ever wanted was a fresh new beginning... and to find happiness again._

_I wanted to find a place where I could finally have full control over my life once more and try to rediscover myself after what had happened at the end of my teen years. I wanted to finally accept those events and find the power to move on and stop being afraid all... the... TIME... just lock those awful memories into the deepest corners of my mind and throw away the key for good! Never come back! But I couldn't do that! Not while living there, in the place where my torments began. Osaka. It was nothing more than my personal cradle of misery and every day spent there only brought me down even further. So... I've realized that the only way to properly heal and move on was to actually to 'move' on. But by doing so, I've shattered all of the real life bonds I had in the process, all of which I've created and maintained for so many years, from childhood 'till high school times... To those people I've now become nothing but a faint nostalgic memory. My friends, my family... Looking back, I think I was quite rash... naïve in my judgment... to think that running away from anything that reminded me of 'it' would be the answer to my wishes coming true._

_**Silly me...**_

_I keep wondering even now... if I hadn't left... if I hadn't left mom and the others... how would my life have looked today? Would I have been any less conflicted? Would this pain inside my heart be any less present? Would I have been happier without these bizarre people I've come to know? Would I have still been depressed? Even more broken? Even... _

_**Dead?**_

She shifted her gaze towards the night sky, the inky black texture slowly getting overcome by a thick layer of clouds. A storm would be setting over the town very soon, trying to wash away the events of tonight; the sky, the moist smell and the steadily growing winds were proof of that too. Ignoring the sudden pain shot through her wounded arm, the girl tightly gripped the cold steel railing with mixed emotions bottling up inside of her, feeling like they were ready to burst out of her any second now, in a form she didn't know yet... She reached a breaking point from where she could find no escape route, there was nothing in the present for her to cling onto anymore... only dreams and wishes that could never come true... not with him around... as much as it hurt, he... just wasn't the right answer if she indeed wanted a brighter future.

_Everything is a mess... _

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she shifted her position, leaning with her back against the railing while her gaze randomly searched the state of her shabby clothes which carried various stains of red, mostly not her own though, layers of dust and dirt. She bet she looked like a homeless/serial killer at that moment, she thought as the wind grew stronger, messing up her auburn hair further... yet, another thing she was 'thankful' for Ikebukuro – trouble was everywhere here and if you got caught up in the wrong crowds then it usually ended up in some bloodshed. A few corpses here and there too, to make it seem like an even more welcoming town.

A sudden flash of white, shortly followed by a deafening thunder announced the beginning of the storm, slowly feeling the touch of the many icy droplets, which were falling into a still slow, steady rhythm. But what truly woke the girl up from her train of thoughts was a familiar faint aroma of a man's cologne, which began messing with her sense of smell, unconsciously inhaling in more and more of it. She immediately realized who was the one interrupting her moment of silence, but did not bother to flinch or run... it would be futile now... She raised her head from the ground and stared right in front of the shadowy figure of the man, who had, just seconds ago, jumped down from the nearby roof like it was the most natural action to do, casually making his way towards her under the rain. Crimson liquid was tainting the switchblade he was so fond of carrying around, twirling it in the air so carelessly and at the same time, carrying that menacing aura he enjoys using on people. His odd, yet enchanting, brown eyes were like chocolate, but not just any kind. The iris was tainted in a unique red shade making his whole gaze appear quite devilish and unholy – just like he was.

"Mi-tsu-ke-taaaa my little angel~!"

A mocking grin spread across his face as his eyes narrowed, his whole expression being a mixture of playfulness and danger, never ending his activity with the switch blade. She was staring **a**t him, her stomach jumping all of a sudden and tightening with every step he took forward, being flooded with an odd sensation as her heart began to rush in its pace. Her eyes were piercing his, never once breaking the contact for in front of her was the reason she even considered Ikebukuro as the city to start her new journey to recovery. In front of her was the reason... she now ended up choosing the rash path to escape his grasp...

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**"Hey... Nakura-kun? Is Ikebukuro really such a great place to be part of...?"**

**"I'd never leave it even if I were forced to, Tenshi-chan~! ^o^ You'll 3 it, I'm sure of it!"**

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Her lips curving faintly at the memory, with a swift movement, she grabbed onto the railing one last time and pushed her entire body weight up, mentally cursing the throbbing and pain felt inside of her body, both physically and emotionally. This was it, no turning back... like every decision so far, no way to turn time around and redo it, rethink it or change it. Throwing herself over towards nothingness and simply... falling... falling... falling down like the curtain of rain drops, leaving behind the man...

...whose playful grin had instantly faded away.

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**Crystal:** Congrats for reaching the end~! *gives some cookies*

I hope you liked it. What the hell happened? Confused? Well, surprised if you weren't. This isn't the actual beginning of the story. More like a sneak peak of what lies in store in the future. This will be an important future scene, which will take place after the girl had settled in Ikebukuro and lived for quite some time in the city. It will be a crucial moment in her life and not only in hers~~ pam pam paaam~! The entire night will affect more than one character and will mark the start of that truly fresh new beginning for some and ending for others. In what category does she lie? Who knows...

Future chapters will bring the story back to the first day in Ikebukuro and will portray the days, weeks, months that passed by... the events that triggered all of _Tenshi-chan's_ thinking in this part.


	2. Chapter 1 - Sunset Paranoia

Hello all~!

Hope you're doing alright ^^ I'm really curious to see what your opinions are so if you have time I'd love some feedback from you guys ^^ Things are still going a bit slow in the story, but there will be more action packed sequences in further chapters XD

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Durarara chars, settings, bla bla bla, only my own OCs and plot devices.

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**Marionette**

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**C1. Sunset Paranoia**

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Ikebukuro was simply radiating with life that evening. All the way downtown, you could see people of all ages and colors enjoying the remaining warmth of the spring's sun, before the night would fall over the city and wrap everyone in its shivering cold grasp. There were so many smiling couples and groups outside – it felt like they were all in sync with nature and the entire atmosphere the day was providing with this wonderful sunset.

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_One step. _

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_._

_Two steps. _

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_Three steps._

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The new arrival was hesitant in her walking ever since she had left the train station. Her eyes trailed onto every curve, every rigid corner of the foreign constructions decorating the streets. She forced her mind to remember as many details as she could in case she needed to one day return to this place. A few townspeople threw quick annoyed glances when they had nearly bumped into her by accident while she was aimlessly staring at this new world in front of her eyes.

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**'Get it going gal, this road ain't a pit stop!'**

_._

An adrenaline rush was flowing though her veins the moment she realized what an inconvenience she turned out to be for some really stressed out dangerously-looking people, so she commanded her feet to move the hell out of there and fast before anyone would think to threaten her with their heavy briefcases... or worse.

Needless to say the situation was leaving the girl a little paranoid, convinced that more and more pair of eyes were suddenly following her every movement since that guy's remark and she could not shake off that feeling even after she passed a few blocks, every few seconds looking behind her to see if she was being followed by anyone... such a notion sent chills down her spine and at one point even regretted her stupid decision to come here, mostly on a whim really... I mean, all she did was give up the comfort and security of her home in exchange for a town she had never had a chance of visiting in the past. The only information about Ikebukuro was collected from the few traveling sites she could find on the web and, mostly, from her online friend, Nakura, with whom she talked about it the most during some of their late night chatting. Even to this day she didn't know why she had allowed herself to be convinced with such ease, why she allowed to become so charmed by the stories he was constantly sending her about this place and its many enchanting urban legends, like that one with the Black Rider. Nakura felt like he knew how her mind worked and what sparked her interest... like he could see what she was missing and that's what Ikebukuro was offering...

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_'Heeeee... You really think I'm enchanting? Aww, you're making me blush~! You're extremely lucky since I'm currently free to please you in any way you want and whenever you want ~~~ when you move here, of course. ^.~'_

_._

_'I said those LEGENDS were enchanting, not you! And I never said I want to move there! And why would I want to be near you?! Gosh… =.='_

_._

_'Awww. Tenshi-chan hates me… ;~; it feels so cold... I feel like crying myself to sleep and never wake up... (T.T) *heartbroken*'_

_._

_'Those aren't even real tears!', _she rolled her eyes slightly amused._ 'And... I don't hate you, Nakura-kun; stop being so silly. I only asked of you to STOP joking about such things! –Big sigh– =.= Idiot!'_

_._

_'You're so meaaaaan, Tenshi-chan~! But deep deep DEEP down I know you want me~~~ ;P'_

_._

_-Tenshi-chan logged off –_

_._

_'All by myseeeeeeeelf... don't wanna be all by myseeeeeeeeelf…. Anymore!' (continues spamming her with love song/break up/ whatever you want lyrics for quite some time)_

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_"Nakura, you idiot..."_, she thought, her lips curving up slightly as her mind was rewinding one of their many talks. _"Always saying these stupid things. You better not make me regret choosing Ikebukuro or I swear I will find you and strangle you with my hands." _

Despite all the cursing and scolding (from her part), taunting, flirting and non stop teasing (from his part), she still couldn't bring herself to fully trust this Nakura character, no matter how much he made himself look so... approachable and... slightly adorable. Something inside her was preventing this, the girl's mind constantly warning her not to let things get too out of control with this guy, constantly screaming at her to stop getting so close because... because... his types turn out to be the most dangerous and she didn't want the past to repeat itself... Also... she didn't know how to put it in words... but there was a certain charm in him that she felt drawn to... know more.

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And that was bothering her greatly!

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And the fact she had already shared far too much private information about herself to Nakura was also problematic for her. To make matters even worse, she had caved into his spammish/ _innocent _pleading regarding photo sharing... although not completely, as tempting as it was.

The photograph she had sent him was a pretty old one, from back when she was around sixteen – the peak of her abnormal hair dying frenzy period of her teenage hood. At that time her hair had grown past her waist line and the various colors she chose to dye it with were – a very, very dark shade of crimson at the roots, slowly lighting up at the edges as she added tones of black, red, orange and cream, making the whole thing appear like it had caught fire. Nowadays, the girl was nothing like her sixteen years old version, her hair kept only at shoulder length having an inky black texture – something plain and simple, not intended for grabbing any attention at all. Average. One more reason, as to why she had chosen that specific picture and not another, was the fact that no matter how he'd view it, Nakura would not be able to see much of her face, carefully being hidden behind her hands. The only clear feature was the pair of bright hazel eyes, its shape emphasized by the use of some thick black eyeliner and a soft dark eye shadow. So basically, she showed him nothing, yet too much at the same time.

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_'Such a tease, Tenshi-chan~! Dx'_

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But even after complaining about this for quite some time, he finally kept his end of the bargain. A pic for a pic. And like in retaliation, what she received from him was the same type of image. Similar pose to the girl's, the only difference being his expression. While she appeared more serious, his whole attitude was a lot more playful in comparison. He was winking at her in the way she'd imagine him to, appearing innocent, yet being rather... suspiciously seductive. She remembered staring at his photo for at least an hour straight trying to remember his features, but of course she never mentioned this to him and kept it cool with her messages... even causing him to fake cry again when she didn't give the compliments he was expecting.

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_No reason to fuel his ego even more, that would be terrible... imagine an upgraded Nakura with new skills at complaining and even more teasing... *shudders*_

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That night, after he went to sleep, she must have stayed awake a good couple of hours, constantly imagining how the rest of him would have looked like... no special reasons behind that wish! Just... her curiosity can sometimes become too great and puzzles were what she loved solving best during her free time. This guy didn't seem to have very bad physical traits from what she could tell, even with that V-cut shirt on... which partly explained the high self-esteem he possessed. Also, the way he was gazing towards the camera when he took that photo... she was under the impression he was actually piercing through her soul threatening to cause the bubbling inside to crumble the wall she had put up against him, bursting out in a form that was beginning to terrify her...

But let's not forget this was the internet. People could become much braver here under the mask of anonymity, more sociable with the right crowd – the girl knew this feeling really well since in real life... it was rather difficult to have normal conversations with people... actually to talk to just anyone. Which, come to think about it, made the move towards Ikebukuro an even crazier notion, well down idiotic... Ugh!

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_I wasn't always like this though... was quite the opposite really, the 'life and soul of the party' as I was once called and actually... quite similar in attitude and action with Nakura if I think about it… I envy that sometimes. And speaking of that troublemaker –_

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– he made it obvious that he was truly eager to meet her face-to-face or at least see her from afar if she was so shy about it. He even suggested scenarios, find a crowd or some sort of place to her liking filled with people and if she felt that she indeed wasn't keen on conversing with him then... she just had to text him and he would leave her alone and not follow her since it was fairly easy to notice how reserved the girl was when giving out personal details. How many months it took for that photo exchange to happen (many!) and Nakura didn't wish to scare her away too badly, especially after _'Tenshi-chan'_ had given him the news that the move to Ikebukuro would become official. She finally rented a place and found possible jobs she would be able to do there. She had indeed become a fairly nice distraction from his reality, but of course, he didn't say it in those exact words... whether it was a compliment or not, had a deeper meaning or none at all, she did not know... or wish to know at the moment, but still thanked him either way, not before once more declining his silly meeting idea, thus commencing another wave of fictional tears.

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_For someone who mentioned he was 'forever 21' at heart, he sure seemed more like 'forever 2 or 1'. _

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Plus, who was to say he wouldn't have shown up anyway at the train station and spot her in the crowd since apparently it was not too difficult to point out who felt like a wondering new comer. And, and then... after as she got on his radar, it wouldn't be too hard to stalk her all the way back to the rented apartment she had found in Ikebukuro and, and... She'd read certain articles about people meeting in real life after spending some time over the web together. Those stories didn't end pretty, the men being those types who would say anything, do anything it took to gain the trust of those naïve young girls... The thought was good enough to cause her to cringe and shudder bringing her back to the darker parts of her memories.

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Paranoia was latching onto her again. But stuff like this can happen and why risk it happening to you when there are plenty of ways to avoid such unnecessary stress?!

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Not to mention, she wasn't ready to reveal to him her inability to talk to people which for most was a reason to ridicule and hurt her – no matter how hard she willed it, words would no longer pass her lips, rendering her completely soundless when it came to face-to-face conversations. Alone in a room, she had... fairly better chances, however even those occasions were so rare when she'd allow her voice to come out even as a whisper. Immediately her mind would go back to that time when numerous sly words would constantly be whispered in her ears, haunting her so clearly to this very day and afterwards she would always feel the need to gag, worst case have a panic attack. So, liking it or not, Nakura was not going to get what he wanted any time soon!

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And speaking of Nakura...

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Her phone was beeping all of a sudden, the girl stopping in the middle of the sidewalk as she was searching the inside pockets of her backpack for the little red smartphone she carried. The screen was lit up, his name popping up in a message he had just sent.

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_'Tenshi-chaaaaaaan~! You've been so silent these past days... Don't tell me... you finally moved to Ikebukuro?!'_

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_'Gosh... I was hoping it would remain my secret...'_

_._

_'EEEEEH? I was right?! O_O'_

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_'Ah! Sorry, Sorry, Sorry! Train got here half an hour ago... Don't get all upset now! ^^;'_

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_'You forgot about me, again... you're so, so, so cold... *__depressed*__ ;~; ' _

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_'I diiiiiiiidn't~!', _followed by_ 'mean to forget... ^.^ *smiles innocently*'_

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_'You don't love me anymore... *pouts* ;~;'_

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_'I never said I did in the first place!', _continued with_ 'Also. I know fake crying when I read it. It doesn't work on me anymore, you of all people should have figured this out by now!' _

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_'You never said it before, but I know you want to say it now ^.~ **COME INTO MY ARMS! '**_

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_'There are loads of things I want to say to you. One – starts with an fu and ends with a ck, finishing touches being: you.'_

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_'Even better! Your place or mine, Tenshi-chan~? –licks lips–'_

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_'DIDN'T MEAN IT IN THAT WAY! Stop having such a disturbing mind –yells-! O_e '_

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The girl rolled her eyes and sighed, not even the least bit surprised of the bold proposal Nakura had made. How did she know he was going to misread her words and think of yet another dirty meaning behind them? Bloody idiot! At this rate she would surely end up playing along his lame ass flirting game and that was totally unacceptable. She placed her phone into the pocket of her light grey jeans and sighed heavily once more as she dragged her feet towards the big squared fountain built at the center of one of the more important squares of Ikebukuro. She rested a bit on one of the basin's edges, hoping she'd blend well with the various locals already present in the area. She inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh moist air while she felt the wind lightly brush over her heated cheeks. The girl's attention was almost instantly caught by the view above, ignoring the buzzing from her pants caused by Nakura's messaging. Groaning, she at one point she shoved the phone out of her pockets and noticed at least seven new entries from the guy.

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But for the first time since she knew him... his speech pattern felt like it changed.

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_'By the way, you'd better be careful out there.', 'Not wanting to frighten you or anything, but...', 'The color gangs are the most active when it's nightfall and a frail little girl like you might be in serious danger all alone.', 'It only takes a look or a gesture and you'll become their next victim for suuuure~!', 'So...', 'It's best you should hurry to your home.', 'I wouldn't want Tenshi-chan to become a real angel.' _

Not wanting to frighten her? **_Are you fucking kidding me... ?!_**

With her free hand tightly gripping the strap of her red shoulder bag, she quickly ended the mini break near the fountain, swiftly walking away from the crowded square. Twenty minutes or so and she would finally arrive to the apartment complex and meet the kind person who had rented her the apartment so cheaply to get the keys... or so she thought. During the speed walking, the girl didn't stop texting Nakura, who had shifted from that surprisingly more mature version of himself back to the annoying needy child mode.

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_'Tenshi-chaaaaaan?', _name repeated eight times or more_ 'Don't tell me they've already gotten youuuu~! ;~;'_

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_'I'm not that helpless Nakura-chan!'_

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_'She's aliiiiiiiive~!'_

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_'I'm a lot more resourceful than you think.'_

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_'I wonder about that... Also, Nakura-chan? You've never called me that before.'_

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_'Don't you like it...? I thought it sounded cute.'_

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_'What part of me do you find cute? ^.~'_

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_'I hope that was a rhetorical question. A hilarious one if I may add, though I am not laughing one bit –yawn–.', 'Considering you're like a child most of the time, I think it's a perfect fit for you, don't you agree?'_

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_'Always so mean to me... what kind of an angel are you? You're more and more like a devil woman every day!' _

_._

_'Oh, shush! I'm not that bad as you are sometimes!'_

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All that chatting, she didn't notice a rather tall and muscular figure wondering around the street corner, her mind being focused on how annoying Nakura was to notice anything else. She noticed the man's presence far too late to avoid bumping into his massively built body, which... _Damn it to hell, what?! He felt like a freaking stone wall, this was impossible! Impossible!, _she thought panicked.

Due to the shock of the powerful collision, she couldn't properly maintain her balance thus stumbling on the ground, quickly ending up on her butt. The phone slid out of her hand almost instantly, gliding onto the rocky pavement a few meters away from where she was lying. God, what was wrong with her?! She clutched her left arm and could feel a lot of pain pulsing from that spot. Oh, great... just freaking great.

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"Stupid Nakura and his stupid spamming! Now what have I gotten myself into... Eh?"

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The girl lifted her head only to be completely frozen by the piercing stare of the man in front of her. He was bent down, placing most of his weight on the knee he propped onto the stone pavement. His face came dangerously close to hers and carried an expression that would surely make even the braver men quake nervously... Trouble. She was sure she was in trouble and in a big one too. She could easily tell. The guy looked pissed off. Her hazel eyes were at the mercy of his pair of grayish blue ones that were so... so damn terrifying... like in any second they would envelope around the girl and suck the entire life from her body, leaving behind only an empty carcass, the reminder of an existence, which formerly resided the body. She could feel the tears gathering at a rapid pace, this exact scene so similar to the one four years ago...

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Suddenly.

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His hoarse voice broke down the tense silence between them, the words that followed taking the girl completely by surprise. She wasn't expecting such a reaction at all...

"You not hurt, yes? Russian Sushi, you want to try, yes?", ending it with a really gentle smile.

"..."

_'O_o ... Did not expect this...'_

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Crystal: Have another round of cookies! *or if you dislike sweets, then have a high-five!*

I think Simon, as a char in the show, is one of those good examples where the sentence - 'not to judge the individual by its cover' comes to mind with ease. Of course, when he interacts with Izaya... expect him becoming less of a softy.


	3. Chapter 2 - Ikebukuro Nights

Hello all~! Sorry for posting this so late, but I've been reviewing the story and kept changing details over and over and over again until I finally came to an outcome which satisfies me – and a possible stepping stone for future chapters ^^ it is still not a definite thing though, lots could change depending on my mood, but hopefully the overall result will shape this story nicely :D ((also, laziness is a flaw I developed and upgraded through time))

Please review and continue sharing your thoughts ^^

**To my reviewers so far:** I'm happy you've been enjoying it, despite being so few chapters, I will try my best to update this story as fast as possible. ^^

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Durarara chars, settings, bla bla bla, only my own OCs and plot devices.

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**Marionette**

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**C2. Ikebukuro Nights**

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**Confusion. **

The chocking anxiety, which had been surging through the girl's veins just a few moments ago, had been nearly entirely replaced by a sense of sheer bewilderment, for the gestures of that... uniquely looking individual had her completely taken by surprise. She was not sure what to make of this foreign-looking dude. She honestly believed that she had gotten into some serious trouble considering the frightening expression that imposing man had plastered across his face, eyes narrowed dangerously after his work had just been rudely interrupted by her carelessness. That man's massive body had to be at least twice the girl's size and his strength nearly ten times greater than the average human being, judging from that well-oiled pack of muscles he displayed underneath the uniform – something you definitely NEVER see in a man doing advertising on the streets for a living! The real shock came when his rigid face suddenly broke into much softer lines, his lips curving up into an almost harmless smile _**– unexpected!**_ In an instance, the uneasiness floating around the air had shattered and the panic button inside the girl's mind had ceased to be pressed so feverishly, although her eyes were still glossed with tears for quite some time afterwards, fear never leaving her entirely. _Tenshi-chan _kept her eyes glued onto the massive figure towering over her and flinched when he abruptly pulled her up her own two feet with such an incredible ease – and power – like she was nothing more than a tiny sack of feathers. Shebarely kept up with this man when he began using rapid sets of distorted sentences. Moreover, being it from either the fright, adrenaline rush, shock, you name it, she was unable to move, nor form words of her own and say anything in return – like she could actually mumble anything back at all in the first place, come to think of it... =.=

_'His speech pattern was a really tricky thing to comprehend – a big pile of gibberish if you weren't paying enough attention to the pronunciation. Even now, I thought I just heard him ask about food – or something along the lines – mixed with words about a restaurant where there was sushi that was Russian? Umm... was that even a logical sentence? I doubt he meant to say th-'_

_**.**_

**"Welcome to Russia Sushi! Enjoy your stay here, yes~?! Food appear soon here, yes?!"**, he spoke enthusiastically leaving her dumbfounded.

_**.**_

_' HE ACTUALLY MEANT IT! o.o;'_

The girl could practically feel her cheeks becoming hotter and hotter, her skin turning into a charming reddish color as she was sitting on a bar stool inside the restaurant. Against her will! Maybe if she weren't such a slow, dysfunctional screw-up, then she would have probably managed to find a way to politely refus-... oh, what the hell! She would have just run the hell away from that guy the moment she was certain she had retrieved all of her belongings from the ground, but the dude had to grab her by the wrist and drag her inside – _meh... not worth thinking about it now... =.=_ _Tenshi-chan_ felt like she'd die from embarrassment any moment now for ending up in such an odd place and it wasn't even her first full day spent in Ikebukuro, a town she had barely set foot properly into, a town where she was completely devoid of any meaningful contacts, be it family or friends_ (=.=u Smart move by the way... not )_ and now... this happened...

_'And it's all because of Nakura's spam! ~~~ O.e I swear, I'm gonna ban him for this...'_

The tall man who was called Simon – from the nametag on his uniform – exchanged a few indistinguishable words with the person behind the counter, most likely the chef, who was simply nodding in response as he threw glances at the newest customer of that evening – customer, who was looking anywhere else, but in those men's eyes, however she was very much aware that she was the main topic of that discussion. Shortly after, Simon went back outside, most likely to continue his work and search for new souls to kidnap OR, if he was lucky enough, to have more people bump into him thus giving him another excuse to safely drag someone else inside. Again. _Tenshi-chan_ could clearly spot from behind the glass door that people were avoiding him like he was the black plague, so this could take a while...

A long while.

The space inside the restaurant was not too shabby, nor big, giving it the right percentage of intimacy you'd expect from such a remote neighborhood business. It had mostly a sushi themed cuisine, among other stuff too as well, but... truth be told, the girl did not really enjoy eating sushi that much, it didn't even rank her top 10 list. However, it was too late to get up and leave since Dennis, the chef, was already working on some dishes with extreme fervor, possibly for her despite not ordering anything yet... Weird. Also, he had a similar strong body build despite being much shorter than Simon. Really, Tenshi-chan did not want to disappoint or anger anyone who was a sure expert at handling a knife, fearing that a refusal would really make her break into tears for real and crack. This day was beginning to feel uncomfortably overwhelming... **However!** On the bright side, Tenshi-chan WAS kind of getting hungry, especially after being bathed in all these constant scents from all the various seasonings Dennis was using, filling up her nostrils with delicious aromas and causing her stomach to lowly grumble. Maybe eating here might not be soooo incredibly horrible – a one-time deal, then never again.

Easy~!

Glancing around curiously as she was waiting for her serving, Tenshi-chan couldn't help but notice that besides her, only a noisy group sitting in one of the more secluded back rooms were enjoying a meal in this Russian place, the rest of the seats being completely unoccupied. _Either the food was really that bad or the men looked way too scary to grab customers. Or both. Ah well, one-time deal then out the door, never to return!_ With that thought in mind to ease her senses, she started roaming around her bag and checking to see if anything was damaged from the fall – luckily, her laptop seemed intact, mostly thanks to the few towels she stacked there with it. Tenshi-chan switched her focus to the main issue at hand, which was turning into a massive problem for her.

_"Ugh... now I've done it..."_, the girl silently sighed, taking out the remains of her once adored touch screen phone as it lied defeated onto the wooden counter. The screen was cracked so badly after it slipped from her grasp that she couldn't properly type on it anymore without feeling her eyes hurt from squeezing them too much in order to properly read the menus and such. Heck, she wasn't even able to write her own damn name in that cracked device without seeing it distorted in a vicious way - _Oopbelaija. _

_._

_Sigh... _

_._

She'd have to get a replacement for sure and this quite soon for it was the only tool she could use to properly communicate with the outside world and the people around her... I mean, her laptop looked okay, but she wasn't going to walk around the streets with that thing up and running, holding it with one hand while typing it with another – she tried it once at home, NEVER AGAIN! Also, it would be like a free invitation for someone to mug her. _God..._ _what a waste of precious money_. At this rate she'd have to hope those job interviews scheduled for the following days were going to be fruitful experiences, for the money-planner she had designed back in Osaka was already beginning to crumble into pieces. If she were forced to make any more unnecessary expenses during the following weeks, she'd lose an entire 'safety' line in her calendar, getting closer to the 'starvation' line – worst case scenario, plunging right into the 'homeless' line. Not to mention, her phone had been buzzing like crazy for the past 10 minutes, Nakura probably having entered his usual _'let's-spam-Tenshi-chan'_ routine, when the girl was shown to be online and active, yet unresponsive to the chat room – which meant she was purposely ignoring him.

_"Not like I can do anything about it now. The touchpad doesn't even work properly... Guess it's an involuntary ban, Nakura-chan, kekekeke!", _she thought evilly.

Her attention was brought back quickly by a giant platter of food suddenly placed onto the wooden counter right in front of where she was sitting at the bar. She widen her eyes and quickly shook her head and tried waving her arms frenetically in a huge 'NOOO!' – the serving was too big for her and, and -

"The first batch is free for the newcomers. Eat to your heart's content!", the powerful voice nearby made the girl pierce into Dennis' eyes quite nervously. Despite having a pair of hollow blue eyes that inspired mostly fear in them, he was carrying the same reassuring smile as Simon did before. Truthfully... the food combination was... rather interesting... some were horrible though, but she hid her repulsiveness showing a straight face as not to insult the man. Other combos were actually really tasty and the seasonings chosen – top notch. Overall, this chef was actually pretty good, considering sushi was between her least type of meals.

"No need to be nervous around us, young lady.", Dennis spoke after a while, noticing that Tenshi-chan had yet to utter any words since entering this place, plus her composure was still pretty rigid. This happened often to the 'fresh blood' in Russia Sushi, since their reputation around town was not really... favorable, which is why they had to come up with the _'free first sushi batch'_ scheme and non-stop advertising. Dennis wasn't one to brag normally, however no one knew how to cook this stuff as well as he could and clients who tried his dishes could never truly forget the taste, most even daring to come back.

Blushing further, the girl hesitantly smiled, lowering her gaze as she pointed towards her slightly parted lips, shaking her head and hoping the man understood that being shy was not the actual main reason she kept to herself like this, maybe even unintentionally appearing rude as a result. Tenshi-chan really couldn't do anything about it and while she did put an effort into trying to overcome this problem, nothing would truly work – her voice never listened to her will. Not even those specialists she had sessions with back in Osaka could do much about this, although it's thanks to all those hours that she was able to function pretty well in a crowd... kind of.

"I see... Apologies then. But that is indeed bad luck over there...", the chef spoke pointing towards the cracked phone. He noticed the girl staring at the device from time to time and tilting it in all ways possible while trying to use it. The girl pursed her lips and shrugged in defeat, looking rather upset about it. _'It can't be helped...'_

"We have a regular here who's pretty handy with electronics.", Dennis added, catching the girl's attention with that info. "He usually shows up during closing time though and it's not even a certainty that he'll arrive here today. However, if it's not overstepping any boundaries, I could keep your phone from the time being and give it to him to fix if you're unable to stay here for that long~! In a couple of days it should be done regardless."

Tenshi-chan glanced at the man for a few seconds, feeling a tad suspicious as she was pondering what course of action was best to take... It was really, REALLY odd receiving so much help and free of charge for that matter. Normally, she'd be unwilling to even consider such a thing, but in the end she agreed to Dennis' proposal since it meant one less problem to worry about – plus, she had no idea what electronic stores were in the area, nor how much it would cost to fix, would she need to buy a new phone and all that other annoying crap. '_Oh, and try doing all of that as someone who is basically mute. *thumbs up* So not a cheerful experience.' _Before she parted with the device, she'd made sure to remove the SD card containing her contact lists and various data, then powered the phone down so no one could mess with the apps while fixing it – paranoia kicking again. Considering the 'swipe lock' combination she had, there were really slim chances for that to happen.

By the time she left the shop, it was already dark outside and well passed over 10pm. Bowing down, deeply thankful for the kindness shown, Tenshi-chan swiftly made her way out of the establishment, the doorbell ringing loud, after receiving a warm _'Come again'_ from Dennis and, surprisingly, a wave from Simon who was still walking around with his board and still passionately doing his job... Come to think of it, she was harsh in her judgment regarding them and just because of their wild appearance... but they both seemed good hearted people.

'_Well... maybe a one-time deal was too rash...? Heh...', _she girl thought, still wearing a smile on her features... it suddenly didn't feel so scary being in Ikebukuro anymore... Shrugging that crazy random thought aside, Tenshi-chan hurriedly made her way through the crowded area towards her apartment building.

The crowd was getting harder to pass through, Tenshi-chan not really understanding the reason why so many had gathered there and just stood in one place, some looking dumbfounded, others anxious and noisy. It was almost like witnessing a freak show. Tenshi-chan tried her best to avoid any physical contact with anyone, although in numerous occasions she was pushed into others. She shrugged off the nasty feelings it caused to her skin and focused on escaping... completely unaware that she had just brushed against a dark hooded figure, who was fiddling with a switchblade in his right pocket while his other hand was busy typing things down. He cut himself, shallowly but still bled for a while, and nearly dropped his phone on the ground – because of her. Eyes tainted with a reddish hue turned around to catch a whiff of her shoulder-length dark locks.

The smirk ensued was vile as he brought his bleeding finger to his lips, licking the metallic taste off it, deciding the last second to make one more call.

**.**

***.***

**.**

What should have been an easy twenty-minutes run from the Russia Sushi shop turned well into an hour of her time completely wasted and this agony was still happily on-going... that phone deal screwed up more than just simple communication for the girl, she had completely overlooked the fact that the only map she had was in a digital format, she hadn't even imagined the possibility of needing a hard copy of Ikebukuro into her hands with all those apps installed – and GPS. Luckily her brain didn't shut down completely, Tenshi-chan still remembering the street name pretty clearly, as well as the building number, however getting there was the more complicated issue, for she needed to do a number of twisted turns here and there to reach that side of the neighborhood she was familiar with through photos... photos taken during the day – things looked hella different during night time. If things were continuing to be this crappy, then she'd have no choice but hope her laptop battery had enough juice to run five minutes until she opened up her map folder... yeah. A mugging waiting to happen, she could feel this outcome all throughout her core.

_'Kami-sama, why must you hate me so much...'_, she sighed pretty heavily, eyes constantly wavering between left and right.

As she was walking, grasping her bag strap more tightly than ever, Tenshi-chan couldn't help this sensation of dread dawning on. The entire area was pretty isolated from any main roads and it seemed so desolated down the streets at that hour, in comparison with how lively everything near Russia Sushi was (it wasn't even the main downtown area in Ikebukuro either!). Sure there was a woman or an old man walking by, but other than those two she saw no one there. The poor street lighting did nothing to improve her mood, on the contrary, she wanted more than ever to ge-

***CLANG CLANG THUD CLAAAANG***

She quickly twirled around 180 degrees, hear racing faster and faster while she was frenetically trying to find the source behind that sudden disruption. It was close by, maybe from that alley she had just passed... Chills were running down her spine, quickly moving one hand towards a pocket inside her bag... just in case, she could use that...

***MEOW***

The girl gasped heavily in shock when right in front of her a cat had suddenly jumped down the nearby concrete wall, landing near her and momentarily stopping to look at the girl. Uninterested and fearful as well, it left as quickly as it appeared towards the opposite side of the street, disappearing after it slipped under a gate.

_'A kitty...'_, she sighed relieved, slowly recovering herself from that near panic attack. _'Cripes... It must have knocked down some trashcans or something from that house...' _Seriously, Nakura's last messages still roamed around her thoughts and did frighten her, nevertheless... there really wasn't anything to worry about – not around this vicinity anyway. The neighborhood hadn't reported any violence or crime activities in almost a decade; she's done her research thoroughly and almost brought her landlady to despair about the issue and questioning during their chat time.

Carrying such reassuring thoughts in mind, she gained back a bit of her lost courage, even more so when her eyes trailed over the following street plates, on the street going perpendicular to the one she was on. Finally a name she recognized! _Dear kami... it was about time too..._ however, that cheerfulness soon crumbled when, just then, her ears picked up sounds of countless footsteps, getting louder and louder. The people appeared to be running from something and she stopped walking altogether, a bit curious as to what was going on... maybe some kids still playing tag? But at such a late hour...? Suddenly, from the alleyway she had passed moments ago, a couple of shabby looking people... wait, four people had just appeared. Even under that poor lighting, she could tell this meant trouble as they immediately started whispering to one another the moment their eyes picked up on her. One of them was not being so subtle about it.

"Hey, is this really that chick the boss wanted us to shake up a bit?!", the orange head asked quite loudly, supporting his weight on his buddies' shoulders so he could get a better view. He was squinting his eyes, a bit too exaggerated, as to confirm the others weren't seeing things. Orange-head appeared young, maybe still in school.

Tenshi-chan froze and started to tremble, when they continued. "Short dark hair, red bag, stripped blazer – looks like this photo somehow...", the fourth guy came in front, hair dyed in two colors, holding up his phone to check and re-check. All feelings of warmth had left her body at that moment – no...

"Hey dolly, turn yer back a lil' so we can check if it's you!", the loud one yelled, causing one of the others to slap his forehead in annoyance and mutter _'you idiot'_. Tenshi-chan didn't wait to see what those thugs actually wanted with her so she started running frenetically, leaving the four stumped for a few seconds, before they stepped up to chase after her.

...

"Why'd ya have to say that, idiot?!", the tallest of them smacked Orange-head. "Ugh, stop hitting me, I screwed up – now get off my back!"

"I guess we're in luck guys!", Two-colors cheered, while the blonde one muttered a bit upset. "Man, this better be worth the cash..."

"Don't worry, boss said we could do anything we wanted just to keep him entertained.", Two-colors added, then the four of them scrambled in the area.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for them to corner her since they knew this neighborhood like the back of their palms. Tenshi-chan was trying to control her breathing, now that the reality of the situation started sinking inside – no... this wasn't happening...

_**This. **_

_**Was. **_

_**Not.**_

_**Happening.**_

"Come on dolly, play with me for a while~~", Two-colors grinned, the only one from the group who was walking towards her, while the others were whistling and cheering. Blonde-Dude was even filming this. "I don't bite... much."

"I promise~!"

.

.

.

.

.

***RING RING RING***

"Hmmmm? Are you done already?", the boss was chewing on some delicious ootoro despite it being near closing time. The owners were used to his attitude already and let it slide. "Erm... boss? Yeah, about that... um, we kind of have a situation here."

"Situation? What do you mean?", this sparked an interest.

"Well... see for yourself."

...

"MWHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~~~~~~~~~~~!", his intoxicating laughter resonated throughout the shop.

The video had been _criminally_ good.

**.**

***.***

**.**

**Special notes: **"Tenshi" is just the OC's penname/nickname, it's not in any way her true name.


	4. Chapter 3 - Target

Finally, another chapter after a long delay. Man... college is using me as a punching bag at times TwT I hope you find my story enjoyable ^^ Also, I felt like i had to write to this fic again, especially after the new season had started – made me fall in love with the story all over again 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Durarara chars, settings, only my own OCs and plot devices.

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*.*

**Marionette**

*.*

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**C2. Target**

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.

"Mister, big time not seeing! Lady! Sushi good, discount good! Russia Sushi veeeery good!"

A startling noise returned the hooded man's attention to the reality in front of his eyes, away from his scheming thoughts. His stern gaze was still frozen onto the crowded area where that brat had just disappeared into not long ago, still savoring the metallic flavor of the red coating his freshly-made wound. The past few weeks had been unnecessarily busy due to unforeseen complications with a _former _client of his, which had finally been _dealt with_ _properly _that afternoon. Thus, he required some form of entertainment after all that troublesome work - that bugger that knocked into him would do splendid! Quickly ending a phone call to one of his many beloved minions –

_._

"I've already mailed you the details. Grab the others and scout the entire area. You've got two hours."

_"Erm... Now?! We were just about to dig into the yakisoba! Give us 5 more minu-"_

"Now or your group will become quite famous in tomorrow's newspaper... **at the obituary section**."

_"I-I-I get it, on our way, on our way!", _the voice sounded distressed but the conversation got interrupted by a fainter sound, the person sounded frustrated, annoyed even. _"Maaan... what a hugea$$ slave driver..."_

_"..."_

_"Oh, fuck.", _a different voice appeared.

_'... These boys', _he thought slightly irritated, chuckling faintly as the grip on his phone tightened. "Make that one hour~! Bye byeeee~!", he added in a cheerful manner despite his eyes narrowing down further.

_"Ehhhh?! B-But bo-"_

_***End Connection***_

.

– he then made his way towards Simon, his trademark smirk casually set in place like the 'innocent' being he was. As always, that man's methods of gathering people were utterly wrong and highly inefficient. Even a few grown-ass men were so frightened by the Russian that they dashed away at merely his gaze. Such delightful scenes never stopped being amusing, no matter how frequently he would visit Ikebukuro – not even for a minute. It was rather hilarious watching Simon at his work, repeating the same cycles over and over again, even though his efforts would result into nothingness most of the time... it was like Simon was expecting a miraculous different result one of these days. And people kept labeling HIM as being an insane individual for all these years!

"Yo, Simon!"

"Izaya. You here cause many trouble today?", asked the man in a happy manner, despite the thinly veiled accusatory tone in his voice.

"Your lack of trust in me is hurtful, Simon... It wounds me **deeply** right in here...", the information broker sighed heavily, his smile never faltering as he overly dramatized the situation, swiftly grabbing his own shirt just above the skin-area atop his beating heart. Izaya would have pouted if he could but the grin was not going to fade any time soon. Silence ensured for a few awkward seconds though... Simon was being far too moody that night, borderline ignoring his statement. It was irritating. "Also...", Izaya continued, his expression returning to normal as his gaze steered away, landing over the sushi restaurant – he sniffed the air around while his stomach grumbled in sheer delight. "...something important here awaits my full attention. That's all~! No funny business.", the broker added, swiftly making his way inside and bathing in those delicious scents even more. Besides large quantities of coffee and tea, during these past few days he didn't manage to eat much solid food. This was the first time in weeks Izaya could skip working all through the nights, without dire consequences if he went to bed.

"Ootoro, yes? Like usual?", Simon asked again as a gracious host, despite his reluctance to give into that fake innocent demeanor. "Mhmmmm~~! Can't stay long though. The night's still just beguuuun~~"

"Oh, Izaya.", Dennis the chef popped behind the counter. "Here." *holds up a broken phone* "This shouldn't take long for someone like you, right?"

"Huh?", he asked confused, raising an eye-brow. Dennis never really made requests to him before unless he had no options. So what gives? "A girl had an accident with this and desperately needs it repaired. Care to take a look?"

"It's far from my usual field of work... And it fails to interest me now, much too dull and boring." *dumps phone in front of Izaya* "Eh?"

"Thanks Izaya.", then chef went back to work, doing those ootoro treats.

"Yo... extorting your own customer?", he narrowed his eyes and had a lazy bored demeanor for quite some time... he had no interest whatsoever. Until the ootoro were threatened to be confiscated – Izaya still had money to pay them, at this point he was only ripping off their business. "What about that tab?!"

"I've told you once, I've told twice – Shizuo is NOT willing to pay."

"Tch. Fine." _*snatches phone - irritated*_ "Be appreciative how nice I am tonight."

Truthfully, if this phone actually held data he could use in the future, he might even find some sort of usefulness in fixing it while the chef was doing the finishing touches to his meal. Silly man! Dennis should have known the risks that came with dumping any electronic devices in his face. What if the owner might prove to be interesting enough to 'play' with in the future? Actually, he was now rather curious – but usually the people he ends up interacting with are so incredibly dull, quickly getting bored of them. Ah, well – loving his humans wasn't always easy or rewarding.

And speaking of his beloved humans, a certain someone was still ignoring his rows and rows of spam messages. It was a first and it was bothersome. This wasn't the usual pattern the girl followed – the unknown reason why almost peaked his interest.

_'Tch, whatever.'_

Izaya went on with his effortless tinkering, removing the pieces of broken screen as it revealed the unprotected image, mostly unharmed from the fall. The password was way too simple to crack as the broker used his own specially designed software he had continued developing ever since his high school days, updating it as the years passed to get through even the more sophisticated virtual locks. Izaya linked the phones together through some wires he had in his pocket and started going through the menu, galleries, web pages... "That's strange...", he mumbled to himself, eyes slightly narrowed down. He couldn't find much useful data. Not even a damn picture of the owner or a spontaneous selfie like so many idiots loved posting online or keep in their phones. Not even a family picture or a pet one.

His job had become so much easier the past few years thanks to all those social media pages... ridiculously easy even to finish some tasks. But on this thing, the only relevant thing he found was a messenger app, but not just any – The Dollar's. However, the ID and Password were blank. Not saved in the phone's memory.

.

**~ In the meantime... ~**

.

The girl was still trying to figure out possible ways to escape from this situation, but it was difficult. And quite risky. The people surrounding her had vile expressions, most likely carried ill intentions as well – a thought even more clear when they finished their gloating and talks... this scenario was far too similar to that time from her past.

'NO!', she mentally yelled at herself. This wasn't the end. Tenshi-chan tried regulating her breathing the way she had been taught in those defense arts classes and focused her attention on those boys, analyzing their behavior and coming up with patterns – they looked dangerous, but seemed a little hesitant to act. But not the one making all the talking, he was bold. Even so, one detail was super clear - he was underestimating her.

Two-colors swayed towards her slowly, prepared to lunge at her and trap her in his arms, secluding her in a more remote area to have their little "fun" show for the boss. One of them would clearly record it all, probably the weakest link out of them all – he also did not seem fit or strong enough to be a fighter. Okay. She could do this! Just... a bit closer.

"You're not bad looking, sweets.", two colors was only a few steps away from grabbing her when it happened. His body started shaking and convulsing so badly, screaming for the first few seconds before foaming into his mouth from the shock, collapsing on the ground. His meal even threatened to escape from his insides as his body twisted and turned like he was some sort of beached fish. What... just happened?!

.

***electric sounds chirping through the night air***

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Tenshi-chan was firmly holding onto her own baby stun-gun like her life depended on it, electricity unfolding at its tip as it just finished sinking deeply into the flesh of the person attacking her, leaving behind red marks and a pain for him to remember her by his entire miserable life. The other boys watched confused, the blonde actually wearing a more interested expression on his face – quite a rarity for his broody self, recording and zooming on the situation unfolding. The loudmouth was enraged and actually had his metal pole out, really pissed at the bitch that dared do this crap to their mate. "I'LL BEAT YOUR ASS 'TILL YOU BLEED OUT! GIRL OR NOT!", he threatened cruelly and jumped right at her for a hit, but Tenshi-chan did the unthinkable. She threw the working stun-gun straight at his chest, the loudmouth falling onto the ground and convulsing in a similar painful manner as the first one, his choking screams oscillating between his horror and the curses he sent to the girl, who was far too quick in retrieving it back into her skilled hands.

She set it at a higher voltage and glared at the remaining two - tall guy and blond. "Don't look at me, I'm the recording guy.", the blonde excused himself and stepped back away while the other yelled at him, pissed off. "Are ya freaking kidding me, you traitor?!"

"Erm, you might wanna-" *tall guy gets power kicked in the nuts and fell down defeated while not paying attention* "Never mind, dude."

Tenshi-chan looked behind her as the last of them cowered in pain, clutching the area between his legs. It felt really broken. The Two-Colors guy managed to get into a crouching stance, while the Orange-head was still pretty much in great suffering, but finally stopped twitching. She then glared at the blonde, her eyes almost piercing through his soul, causing him to make even more steps backwards. 'I was right, he was only a camera guy.', she thought, the adrenaline rush in her blood still making her weary of him as a potential threat. But instead of wasting more time, she chose this moment to flee from this dangerous group. Whatever beef they had with her, a newcomer in this town, was ending now at her own will. She scurried through the roads and hid in someone's yard as she jumped over the tall wrought-iron fence. A smart move, the others managed to regroup quite fast and were chasing for her shortly.

But this time they didn't manage to have her cornered – it was like she disappeared. Tenshi-chan didn't leave the yard for at least 20 minutes, the darkness and the bushes hiding her body from the group who kept circling the streets, always returning to that road. They gathered one last time at the spot where they got their asses handled and the Orange-head, in his rage, went for a punch to the blonde who managed to deflect quite easily, causing the loudmouth to fall flat onto his face. "UUUUUURGGGH!", his shriek would have been comical, if it didn't terrify Tenshi-chan to the bones.

"F**K! Izaya-san will have our heads for this!", the tall one spoke in a higher pitched grunt. He was still in massive pain. All of them were, besides the blonde camera man. "What are we going to do, Ryuu?!"

Two-colors scratched his head and sighed, defeated. "What else can we do, it's like she vanished from sight? Face it guys, this is it for us."

"Why would the boss be interested in her?"

"How the hell should I know? No one knows what goes through that mad man's head!", Ryuu replied exasperated. "Tch. This is f**ked up, how can a tiny girl like that do so much damage?! She's like his sisters, the fudge man?!", the tall one added. "Maybe she's even their classmate, I wouldn't even be surprised!"

"Nah, she looked older. Either way... *gulps down* Who's doing the call- Are you kidding me?!", Ryuu yelled as the others made huge steps backwards. "S**t... Here goes nothing."

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***mumbles and chats***

**.**

**.**

**.**

***Call ends***

.

"Well, well, WELL?!", Orange-head nearly deafened him with that outburst. "What'd he say?! Speak up, man, ya're killin' me heeeere!"

"Erm... unsure?", Ryuu replied. "Dude. The guy laughed all through the conversation. I think we're saved for now, to be honest."

"You can thank me for my camera skills.", the blonde interjected dully and all he received were glares and curses. The conversation and quarrel between the boys didn't continue for too long after that, the group finally leaving towards their homes... their job was finished. If Izaya was going to kill them, he'd have already done so already... maybe.

In any case... during all those tense minutes, Tenshi-chan was more or less like a stone sculpture, frozen in place as her heart was constricted in a tight knot. Her body was trembling so badly that she had to keep a hand over her mouth in case any unwanted sounds would escape. Only when they boys had left did the waterworks truly start, trailing down her cheeks endlessly in waves. She had been so terrified and scared, this ordeal taking a great toll out of her. 'Izaya.' She had clearly heard this name being spoken out loud a few times between those people – their boss' name. It was far too unique for a Japanese person and she hoped dearly it wasn't the same man, which Nakura was talking about so many times before in their chatroom. Because if it was indeed THAT Izaya – she'd better retrieve her belongings face and set a course back home, leaving Ikebukuro for good.

Izaya was a dangerous man that even the police feared, alongside the one dressed in bartender outfits, blonde hair and quite vile looking – Shizuo. Tenshi-chan always believed those were quite some big exaggerations – however, after now... *shudders* it was getting too cold for comfort, colder than it normally would have been even in such a chilly night. Her crying and the fight back in the alley had all but lowered her energy levels and body heat.

Tenshi-chan wanted to leave Ikebukuro and never set another foot in this town. Not after what happened to her – and on the first day she arrived, nonetheless! But... the girl didn't have this luxury of a choice. She took a chance, despite her mother's wish against this, to go where her instincts guided her and start the new life she dreamt of, away from the comfort of her household back in Osaka. Now... she was in a pinch. She badly wished this was all something she over exaggerated inside her own head, overthinking the situation when it truly was just a one-time incident. The girl was far too frightened to think properly, far too scared to see reality as it truly was – she was already plunging into the worst possible scenarios, shaping her future into a really dreadful one if she kept living in this town. However... she needed to calm down, breathe deeply and consistently, in and out, and more importantly – find her damn bloody apartment block again. The stun gun was still glued to her hand, becoming almost like an extension to her arm; it was quite hard to peel it off, so she kept it underneath her sleeve, hidden... Just in case.

All the way there, she tried drying up the tears that were still falling down without mercy, her entire body still shaking. It was so scary... she was still so scared, every step she took was a cautious and silent one. Every foreign sound startled her, whether from a car, human or pet; every figure walking over to her made her want to hide into a corner and vanish from his or her range of view... it was that bad.

.

.

The land-lady was surprised when the shy, hesitant knocks were at her door, interrupting her late night work. She firmly believed the girl would not be arriving that day, but the next considering how late it was and there were still no signs of her. Not even a phone call – it was well over 2am! Anyway... her suitcases had arrived in the morning, so her nephew placed them neatly in her own room. If anything was missing, the lady should be announced right away – the deadbeat nephew had really problematic issues with the law at times, but was a sweetheart nonetheless. *winks*

'I don't like the sound of that...', Tenshi-chan thought, feeling quite uncomfortable around the woman. She talked a bit too much and appeared to have sneaky intentions _ ; Either way, the key was here in her hands - this was it!

Tenshi-chan locked herself into her own little piece of heaven, finally feeling safe... well, as 'safe' she could be... considering. She had no desire to close an eye even if she was indeed dead tired – she was far too afraid of the nightmares that were threatening to resurface after so long, which would only mess her up an even greater deal. The girl avoided sleep like it was the plague, resorting to all sorts of tricks to keep herself focused and wide awake. The attack was just too freshly imprinted in her mind to have a plentiful rest - she decided to charge the stun-gun as she already used up a pretty good amount of juice from it. Who knew when she needed it again, so far it was a wise decision carrying it in her bag.

Ah well... The girl needed activities to keep her mind off this issue.

Unpacking her clothes, unfolding her clothes, sorting her clothes into various tiny piles, re-sorting them into themes, frequency in use, colours - changing them over and over again worse than a person with OCD would, creating a system in her clothing cabinets for her outfits, changing her dirty rags with clean household ones, washing the dirty clothes in the sink, taking a long, long shower where her tears came out again, drying up her body and wiping up the tears, dressing up in warmer clothes, dusting up any corners that were left untouched by the owner, packing up the mini fridge with food from home... the girl lost count at one point, however after two long strenuous hours, she was calm enough to sit in one place and not jump out of fright at every voice similar to those boys, coming from the outside world.

Her apartment flat was at the 2nd floor, so she felt secure enough to keep the window tilted open for some fresh cold air to keep her senses awake.

It was little over 4:30am, the sky still dipped in a dark inky color. She finally plugged in her computer she had placed on the small coffee table, sitting in front of it using a pillow as her chair since the floor wasn't covered in tatami mats – curious matter – but wooden flooring. After a lengthy e-mail towards her mother who was close to announcing the girl missing on national broadcast, she had finally logged into her Dollars account, where - BAM! – there were soooo many messages from Nakura, +100 and counting, ranging from serious replies to extra silly, crazy and bored ones. So much spam...

And just when she hit the end, **DING!** Another one.

.

_"Tenshi-chaaaaan~! You're alive, I thought you were killed TwT. I bought flowers for the funeral already."_

That struck a painful nerve in her heart. Nakura was a joker at times, but he had no clue what s**t she was dragged into against her will and without her even managing to understand HOW it was possible. She could have died for real!

_"Idiot! Don't say stupid things like that... I'm still alive! Baka. BAKA!"_

_"Idiot? What a cold reaction... after you left me all alone for so many hours! Dx! Tenshi-chan is ignoring me... *pouts* TwT *really sad, sad pout*"_

_"Is highly unimpressed by the pouting."_

_";A; ... So cold... But really, what happened? It's like you went off the grid. Usually you cave in, when I start giving you links to my favorite xxx sites 3"_, she blushed furiously and typed with fervor while thinking what an a-hole he was. However... truthfully, she didn't mind it completely... first of all, she barely clicked on links anymore without checking them out on her browser at first. Nakura really did send her... some interesting revealing videos that would make even a German blush a few times in the past so she had learnt her lesson quite quickly... She didn't talk to him for days after his first attempt.

He was a sick man!

However... Tenshi-chan needed this sort of twisted normalcy in her life, even if he was being a major pain in the ribs and greatly immature in stressful times. It made her forget... and give her hope she could make it in Ikebukuro if things were tough. He would help her in need, right? He even said so himself at one point – but... saying something and actually doing it were different things entirely. Also... the girl kept thinking about his offer. Maybe one day she would have the courage to meet him face-to-face... although she really did not want to. What if it ruined whatever they had?! This... sort of friendship was pretty much the most significant one she had left. Yeah... she was that freaking sad as a person. *sigh*

_"I had a lot of unpacking to do and lost track of time, that's all."_, she lied. She didn't really want to talk about it... but Nakura could be so inconsiderate at times, gosh! He kept asking about her absence and every lie she fed him wasn't enough. It's like he smelled a lie even if it was typed. This was an ability she disliked in him.

_"Fine! I managed to bump into a weird chef assistant downtown and I totally forgot about our chat after being traumatized for hours! There! Happy?!"_

_"Hm? Weird chef assistant? O-o"_

_"Umm... yeah. He spoke so strangely... he was advertising for some foreign sushi place downtown."_

_"No way. Simon? From Russia Sushi?!"_

_"... Your mind reading skills are seriously disturbing at times. Okay. Freaking out... Good niiiiight~"_

_"Don't leave me aloooooone~! *drags you back*"_

The conversation took an interesting turn. Izaya still had the phone in his possession, he almost made it look brand new, with a bit of a surprise gift from him 3. Tracking device. But the overall experience was quite boring and uninteresting – besides the Dollars chat, the galleries had pictures of boring things like maps or weird art only girls enjoyed. So it was clearly a woman's phone, probably a teenager's. If he allowed his mind to drift any further and overanalyze the situation, he'd be convinced it belonged to Tenshi-chan. The one photo she willingly sent to him showed she was interested in art. She travelled to Ikebukuro, so the maps were something she'd seem to carry considering how controlling she tried to be with every aspect of her life. But no. Apparently her own phone lost its battery, that was it. _"Too bad, though... how did you even survive an afternoon without my awesome presence? X3"_

_"Quite easily. ^^ *peace sign*"_

_"..."_

_"Joke, joke~! Don't get upset."_

_"I never get upset |"_

_"Lies. I can sense you're not happy."_

_"Your senses had become broken. |"_

_"My senses never break! Now. Where are my daily hugs and kisses?"_

_"Ask your mommy for them 3."_

_"... No way. What am I, four?", "Actually, don't answer that-"_

_"Was that a rhetorical question? ^.^ Aww... too bad I don't like kids . At all."_

_"You didn't like me even if I wasn't a kid!"_

_"Wow... now this is probably the smartest thing you said all night. O=o *highly unimpressed*"_

*sigh* The girl fell flat onto her back, removing the pillow underneath her and hugging it, the sounds of incoming messages flooding the room in their soft tune. Her heart was hurting... the conversation took weird turns again... confusing ones. Whatever. She'd soon have to get ready though. Maybe she could risk falling asleep just a few hours, 'till 8am. She did need to go to at least three job interviews for the day – the entire week was packed full. She hoped the people from the sushi shop managed to fix her phone, although it was a pretty short timeframe to do that... She'd probably go to the evening and just use the old fashioned, pencil and paper to talk with people...

Yay... She couldn't wait. _*sigh*_

"So... Sato Ophelia Mizuko. Unusual name, from the mother's side or father."

"..." _*scribbles*_ 'Mother'

"Experience in this field – none I see.", the man sized her up and already, she felt inadequate for this. But she had to go through this, no backing away. "What skills and experiences would make you an ideal candidate for our firm?", "Why do you want this job?", "Why should we hire you?", "Are you a person who deals with a problematic situation easily? How about stress and being under pressure?", "If something happens in an emergency, as someone with your disability, how would you handle situations the most efficiently?"

And so on... The questions appeared never-ending, her ink was nearly running dry in the pen and it was obvious the interviewer was really impatient with her and her scribbling. She could cross this job off the list already...

And it didn't end here.

Three job interviews, all wearing this difficult and uncomfortable business attire she forced herself to wear to show her more "presentable" side. She wasn't a fan of such clothes... however, not like her serious sober look did much help anyway. All job interviews ended the same. Either they disregarded her disability and when they actually decided to acknowledge it, one of the people doing the hiring gave a pretty BS reason as to why she couldn't be considered as a valid candidate – her inability to diffuse a conflict, because without a voice you were basically opinion less. Tch – and that was from a job folding pastry position and decorating cakes. What part of that required her babbling her mouth, 24/7?! It wasn't like she applied for a call center, then she would freaking understand!

Ugh!

It was irritating... if the rest of the job interviews went down on this path this week, then her money plan would crash and burn for real. She'd end up on the streets, a homeless person without hope. What a dreadful future...she could cry just imagining it. Anyway, being done for the day, Tenshi-chan visited the Russia Sushi store as evening was falling over town. But before she could reach her destination, halfway through a tightly packed square filled with a large number of people, she heard a loud voice all of a sudden, shrieking from the crowd and disrupting her dark, gloomy thoughts. "WATCH OUT FOR THAT POLE!"

_'Eh?'_, the girl stopped in her tracks and narrowly avoided being hit by a huge 10m concrete pole that flew right in front of her face, landing in the pavement, breaking it with such force that a lot of pieces were turned to dust.

_'Eh... EH?!'_, she widened her eyes and glanced to where it came from. Blonde. Bartender suit. Somehow able to rip out concrete poles._ No. NO! NO, NO, NO, NOOOO!_

"I~za~ya~kuuuuun~! What did I tell you about coming to this side of town?!"

Tenshi-chan froze further, scanning the area for the person the blonde was referring to, her heart in a tight knot. She could barely move her legs from the spot she was on, so she instinctively brought her hand inside the small black purse she carried – the stun gun was there, ready for use in case it got more violent.

What followed next was like a scene cut out from a real-life action movie. It was unreal. Even monstrous. Those people weren't human and any moment lingered there was a huge risk of injury – some bystanders were already wounded from their altercation - that Shizuo figure had lost control of his rage and was aimlessly attacking, trying to hit the one he was chasing with all cost, disregarding the bystanders. Izaya – a dark hooded figure jumping around structures like it was the most natural thing to do in town – avoided all the attacks, appearing to 'dance' in this whole mess. Parkhour – she'd heard of the sport, but hadn't seen people use it in real life. It was both fascinating and terrifying, because at that point her eyes were unable to stop piercing through the floating figure as it nearly brushed against her, his laughter being so out of place there... maniacal... like it was all a fun game.

She shuddered as a shiver was sent through her core and joined the rest of the people who were running away. It was too dangerous for her!

Tenshi-chan managed to get out of there just in time – the cops showed up to disperse the commotion... Unreal. It was unreal. Was she dreaming? *pinches self* No... it was real. How could this be real?!

Still experiencing the effects of that little spontaneous mental-breakdown, the girl was quite near the sushi place. And it one piece! She hoped dearly they had it fixed because she needed her 'words' back. It was so much different and difficult, without a smartphone device...

And presto~! They did!

She was so excited, this was practically the only good news that shi**y day had to offer! She checked and double checked – everything looked in place, no files tampered with. She was really happy and typed her gratitude to them! "No need to thank us, Ms. We had no role in it, Izaya-kun is who you should thank instead."

'Eh?', she thought, tilting her head sideways and carrying a startled expression. 'W-What did you say?' She typed it on her phone clumsily – the man's news was painful. There was only one Izaya in town – and that was the one everybody knew and avoided. Tenshi-chan had almost lost it.

Without realizing it, a few seconds after coming out of the shop and passing the corner, from the opposite direction, the hooded figure marched into the sushi store – he was slightly pissy as Shizuo managed to ruin his favorite jacket with those metal grillages he threw. This thing would end up being overly-stitched at this rate. Ugh, it was his favorite too~! "What a monster, Shizu-chan.", he mumbled upset. Izaya was almost face-to-face with the Dollars member who had this device, but no. Apparently, he missed her.

However, not for long. His tracking device would suffice when he is bored enough, but for now – he needed his special meal to make this day a better one. "Oi, Izaya. Pay up your tab or you're banned from ordering ootoro."

"..."

Next time, he'll steal Shizu-chan's wallet.

.

.

.

**Crystal: *gives random cookies out* **If you liked my story, give me some feedback ^^! Also, it took 4 chapters to reveal her real name XD Although, from time to time i'll use 'Tenshi-chan' - chats and messengers especially.


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